This year is our 8th iteration, so I have dubbed it: KSS 2016: The 8th Wonder, or #KSS8thWonder. Such an in-joke for us Australian opera lovers, but it really gets hard to be referential when the numbers are higher...

Long story, short: instead of physical gifts you exchange, you make a creative YouTube video for your Karaoke Secret Santa draw! We've had people plan out full-on music videos, film local christmas celebrations while their track plays in the background, or simply sit a camera in front of them and sing to a karaoke backing track playing in the background. Truly, it's your thought, spirit, energy, and effort that counts! All scales large and small are appreciated!

A lot of our updates will come via the Elfster gift exchange, which we use to have all the participants sign up, create wishlists, and have their names drawn for the event. There is also an Activity log where you can post as you do in other social media forums. Careful when you have a specific question for your draw....make sure any spoilers are avoided and questions asked anonymously.

Also, we post on Facebook with occassional status updates, tips, reminders, and videos. Twitter is also used to share in the fun.

Quick Basics:1) Sign Up via the official gift exchange on Elfster here. (by 10th Dec USA PST)2) Create and curate your KSS 2016 Wishlist on Elfster.3) After Draw, look at your draw's wishlist and choose an appropriate song to perform in your "karaoke" video.4) Upload to YouTube and share with draw and Karaoke Secret for Christmas!

If you're a newbie and want to know a little more detail, I suggest
going to the "How to KSS" page, located here.

If you are considering joining us, please make sure you have the time and willingness to commit - we've had a few flakes in the past, and it's not a great feeling to miss out on a video when you've went out of your way with your efforts.

If you still have questions, we KSS Veterans can answer your questions!

There's only a few hours left, actually, as we've been pimping it out on Facebook, Twitter, and Elfster. We're happy to see new faces and some KSS vets already committing to it!

There's been a question floating around -

"How does the draw work?"

The answer is simple: Elfster will automatically do the draw for us and match participants together secretly. You'll get an email saying "You've been paired up!" (that was last year's email) or some variation with a link to the page where you can see your match. Remember: it's a *secret* santa. ;-)

Another question could be:

"When *exactly* does the draw happen?"

This could be asked to know when you get the draw (since you're so excited to get started, of course!) or when is the absolutely last second you can sign up (stragglers, you lot!).

Well, I've asked this question of Elfster before, as I didn't know which time zone Elfster would be following, and here is the answer (from the now-retired help system; that is, I have no link to the forum page so you can see it for yourself - :-P)

"Our servers are on the west coast, so the deadline is 11:59 pacific
time. Then, the exchange is put into a queue with any other exchanges
set to draw on that day, and drawn.
So, there is not one exact minute when a certain group can count on
the names being pulled. It should not take more than a few hours after
that. Thanks" (Credit: Shannon Wilk)

So, there you have it! If you have any more questions, please ask via the gift exchange on Elfster, or message Karaoke Secret via Elfster or karaokesecret@gmail.com.

About KSS

Karaoke Secret Santa is a project devised by Joseph Restubog in 2009 to bring Christmas cheer to the new friends he'd made all over the world via social networking. Basically, it's like a normal Secret Santa gift exchange - except the "gifts" are YouTube videos! --And not just any YouTube videos: karaoke videos!

Participation is simple! Read our "How To" post, located on the top menu. Questions? Contact one of the admins at karaokesecret@gmail.com.